From "Dinosaurs" to "Millennials": The History of Carding from Numbered Paper Sheets to Telegram Bots (A Chronological Study)

[Professor]

Introduction: Evolution in the Shadow of the Financial Mainstream
The history of carding mirrors the technological and social evolution of society over the past 40 years. From primitive paper-based fraud to a high-tech industry powered by artificial intelligence and global logistics, carding has paralleled the development of legitimate financial technologies, adapting and mutating at every turn. Its history is a story of how the criminal vanguard embraced new technologies.

Era Zero: Prehistory. "Dinosaurs" (1980s)​

Context: The era before the widespread use of plastic cards and the internet. The first ATMs, the birth of payment systems.
Technologies: Paper, telephone, fax.
Methods:

• Physical theft of cards or interception of paper slips (imprinter slips) with the imprint of the card from the carbon copy, which remained with the seller.
• "Street" carding: A fraudster posing as a bank employee took a card "for verification" and replaced it.
• Lists of card numbers, obtained through bribed employees, were transmitted manually or by fax.
  Organization: Isolated crimes or small local groups. The romance of "smart people." Bank losses are relatively small, but protection is almost nonexistent.

Era 1: The Birth of Digital Carding. "Skimmers" (1990s - mid-2000s)​

Context: The widespread adoption of magnetic stripe cards, ATMs, and the dawn of the internet era (Web 1.0). The emergence of the first online stores.
Technologies: Magnetic skimmers, card cloning devices, IRC chats, and email newsletters.
Methods:

• Skimming: The Golden Age. Installing overhead devices on ATMs and POS terminals to read magnetic stripes. Often combined with mini-cameras to record PIN codes.
• Phishing (first experiments): Sending primitive emails on behalf of banks.
• Cloning: Writing data to a blank disc. The "clone" worked anywhere a chip wasn't required.
• Data exchange on forums and IRC channels (such as the legendary CarderPlanet).
  Organization: Formation of the first international communities. The emergence of figures like hacker MAXIM (Maxim Bugaev). Carding becomes a transnational business.

Era 2: The War on the Chip and the Transition to Online. "Hackers" (mid-2000s – early 2010s)​

Context: Massive adoption of chip-based payment cards (EMV) in Europe and the US. Explosive growth of e-commerce. Web 2.0 social networks.
Technologies: Malware (ZeuS, SpyEye Trojans), phishing constructors, VPNs.
Methods:

• Shift to CNP (Card Not Present): Since it became impossible to copy the chip, the focus shifted to stealing data for online payments (number, expiration date, CVV).
• Mass hacks of retail and hotel databases (entire card databases were put up for sale).
• Banking Trojans: Viruses that intercept data when logging into online banking.
• Advanced phishing.
• Shimming is an attack on chipped cards using thin inserts.
  Organization: A clear division of labor. The emergence of cybercriminal groups (such as the Russian Business Network). Carding becomes an industry. IRC is being replaced by specialized closed forums with a strict hierarchy and a system of guarantors.

Era 3: Mobile Revolution and Automation. "Operators" (2010s)​

Context: The dominance of smartphones, the rise of mobile banking and social media, and the emergence of cryptocurrencies.
Technologies: Mobile Trojans, cloud services, scripts, automated checkers, and the first crypto mixers.
Methods:

• Mobile Attacks: Trojans Disguised as Legitimate Applications.
• Social engineering at a new level: Vishing (voice phishing), smishing (SMS phishing).
• Automation: Bots for card verification (checking), for mass registrations on marketplaces.
• The beginning of the era of cryptocurrencies for anonymous payments within the community and money laundering.
• Payment gateway attacks (Magecart) – injecting scripts to steal data directly into store websites.
  Organization: Fraud-as-a-Service (FaaS). Ready-made tools, databases, and botnets are available for rent. Low barrier to entry. Dropper and mule networks are becoming global.

Era 4: The Era of Platforms and Chatbots. "Millennials" (late 2010s - 2020s)​

Context: Massive digitalization, pandemic, delivery boom, the dominance of messaging apps, the rise of DeFi and NFTs.
Technologies: Telegram bots, crypto mixers, anti-detection browsers, artificial intelligence for bypassing security, residential proxies.
Methods:

• Telegram as the main criminal OS: The entire cycle is carried out through bots: purchasing databases ("dumps"), their automatic verification (check), software rental, searching for drops, communication with the guarantor.
• Soshing (Targeted phishing): Highly targeted phishing based on data from social networks.
• Attacks on P2P payments (Zelle, SBP) and crypto wallets.
• Using legal infrastructure: Cashing out through Amazon deliveries, buying and reselling NFTs, using decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to obfuscate traces.
• Session theft (cookie logs): Intercepting a user's active browser session to log into their account and make a purchase without entering card details.
  Organization: Maximum decentralization and atomization. A newbie can become an operator with a few clicks in a bot. Global but loosely connected networks. The cult of the "gig economy" and anonymous freelancing in the shadow sector. The carder is a technocratic millennial who values a user-friendly interface and speed of transactions.

Comparative table of evolution​

Parameter	The Age of Dinosaurs (1980s-90s)	The Millennial Era (2020s)
Data carrier	Paper slip, magnetic strip	Digital token, cookies, session
Communication channel	Fax, phone, rare BBS	Telegram bot, encrypted messengers
Tool	Physical skimmer	AI bot, cloud script, crypto mixer
Payment method	Cash, Western Union transfer	Cryptocurrency (USDT, XMR), P2P payments
Portrait of a carder	A trickster, a physical swindler	IT specialist, operator, anonymous freelancer
Organization	Local gang	FaaaS (Flat-based but atomized network)
Main vulnerability	Physical presence, cameras	Digital footprint, pattern analysis, ML protection for banks
Speed of operation	Days/weeks	Seconds/minutes

Conclusion: From rags to riches, remaining in the shadows.
The evolution of carding is a journey from physical to digital, from manual to automated, from local to global, from chaotic to systemic as a service.

If the "dinosaurs" of the 1980s risked being caught red-handed at an ATM, then the "millennials" of the 2020s risk being detected by a blockchain transaction chain algorithm or behavioral analysis. But the paradox is that technological progress has not destroyed carding, but rather transformed and democratized it.

Today, carding is no longer the preserve of a select few hacker elites, but a low-tech yet highly effective conveyor belt , accessible to almost anyone who knows how to use a messenger. This is the main result of this evolution: criminals have adapted as much as possible to the habits of the digital generation, offering them a "gig economy" in the shadow sector. The story continues, and the next stage will involve metaverses, quantum computing, and the total integration of AI, where the battle between defense and attack will finally move into a realm beyond human comprehension.